I consume anything having to do with baking sourdough so I super enjoyed through here and perusing the beautiful photos. Have marked a few recipes to try, looking forward to it.

In the past few years we have heard about sourdough everywhere. I have yet to try baking it myself but I have friends who are addicted to it and have been jealous one too many times over seeing their delicious looking loaves and it is time I gave it a go myself.
This book will be a great help, with step by step guides and easy to follow instructions. Once you get the hang of the basic starter and sour dough, there are alternatives, different flavours and ingredients to try, and ideas for presentation and fillings/toppings.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sourdough baking is not easy, just ask all of us who are jumping on the lockdown bandwagon who are starting baking and caring for our little sourdough starters. In fact, ask professional bakers and they will tell you that the weather, the temperature of your oven, even your mood will affect your bread making success!

Looking for a step by step guide, I came across 'How to Raise a Loaf' by Roly Allen. I wasn't disappointed. The author himself writes that his aim is to simplify sourdough and make it easy for anyone to make a good homely, if not professional, loaf.

Sourdough is a commitment - not just keeping your starter alive and happy, but the patience of turning your dough and letting it rise. This recipe book gives you a 'faster' recipe which can be baked in a day, and then the more professional version which takes the more usual two day period. There's nothing more disappointing than having a sourdough disaster - a big heavy block that even the bread knife cannot infiltrate. This beginner's book gives you confidence to make a sourdough loaf, and then shows you how to progress to the next level.

After the instructions come the tempting recipes, and the photography helps to set the taste buds tingling. I'm going to be trying Grissini, sourdough pizzas, sun-dried tomato and olive. bread, poppyseed rolls and an amazing looking provencal fougasse with green and black olives.

This might not be the only sourdough book I use, but it might just be the one I turn to the most.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in return for an honest opinion.

The title of this book “How to raise a loaf and fall in love with sourdough.” was aptly named (I was a love-struck, drooling fool by the end of the book).

In contemplating a first-time sourdough bake-off, I was happy to have had an opportunity to look through and review this book. It certainly is a "meat and potatoes" book on the baking of sourdough loaves - from the anatomy of a grain, techniques and equipment needed, tips, tricks, troubleshooting…getting creative, to the actual recipes themselves.

While I found parts of the book a little too “scientific or technical” in nature for me personally (e.g. the anatomy of a grain), those that like to really get in-depth about a topic, you will truly appreciate the latter. However, that being said, I was still very grateful and appreciative of the detailed information that was provided in some parts of the book – e.g. basic starter method, what you need to make your starter.

One of the most interesting parts of the book I found, was the folding and kneading techniques. Hats off to Roly Allen for including detailed photographs to go with typed instructions! User-friendly at its best…

As to what I found to be most helpful…that would be the section on: tips, tricks and troubleshooting. We have them for our gadgets, so why not for baking???

Of course the pièce de résistance of the entire book, is the recipes themselves.

How to Raise a Loaf and Fall in Love with Sourdough by Roly Allan is an extremely comprehensive book. It is extremely well organized and wonderful eye candy. The photos are gorgeous. With all the time everyone is spending at home lately there are many who have turned their thoughts to baking bread. The book has definitive instructions for the preparation and care of your Sourdough Starter.

If you have never tried baking Sourdough this book will make you want to really try this method. This might not be for the busy person. This effort takes time. The preparation through to a finished loaf takes days (to make the starter) and then many hours to come to fruition. Much advanced planning is required. This is not a spur of the moment task.

Roly Allan is very detailed , in a step by step manner, for people who haven’t tried this method before. The table of contents is thorough and broken down so you can easily find the information you are looking for. The author goes through the trouble of explaining the basic science behind the process of creating sourdough bread. It is not overwhelming and it makes the process interesting. There is a complete explanation of creating the starter, kneading, folding, making your first loaf, what equipment is needed, the different types of starter you can make (chocolate – who knew?), different types of flour, tips and tricks. There is even a section on troubleshooting in case you find that your dough is not cooperating.

This book is extremely inspiring and certainly begs you to got ahead and bake a loaf of sourdough bread. This is not only an informative book but it is also beautiful. A great gift for yourself and your favorite baker.

I would like to thank the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have baked bread before but I always thought sourdough bread was something too complicated for me. Then this book taught me how to make my own starter and I am hooked now! I have learned a lot of things about bread that I didn't know before and I am going to try all the recipes in the book in the near future!

**I received a pre-publication digital version of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This book is an ABSOLUTE MUST READ for sourdough beginners!!!!! I'm SO EXCITED to try out everything in this book y'all. Literally every step in the process from day 1 to finished loaf is photographed and described in a very palpable way, you're practically guaranteed not to screw up. The best part is that with it being beginner friendly, the author doesn't push for any fancy extra tools or supplies unless you really really get into it. The author has a full step-by-step instructions for his standard starter, but also includes variations including a dark chocolate and vegan starter! Honestly the only people left out of the sourdough fun are those that are gluten intolerant. He also includes different variations and recipes at the end of the book to try once you're more comfortable working with your new starter baby. I cannot stress enough how excited I am to start this process and I hope my friends and family are ready to be pelted with bread.

I liked How to raise a loaf, a book about sourdough bread. I liked different ways of making a starter and how to make different kinds of crusts. I liked the recipes, and I was especially attracted to chocolate bread.

I would recommend it to anyone interested in baking bread.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.

Wow, who knew that there could be so many different variations on sourdough! This book is the ultimate guide to making sourdough, from making your own starter to a diverse group of recipes (e.g., speckled beetroot sourdough, sourdough pizza, classic wholemeal sandwich loaf). The most exciting thing about this book is its illustrations: many, helpful and appetizing! Instructions are very clear and simple, with each step shown in a photo. There's a nice trouble-shooting section with common questions and answers. No detail has been spared (from crust types to starter types to flour types). Love this book!

This is a great little book to get you started cooking sourdough bread, filled with all kinds of info about sourdough and brimming with gorgeous color photos. Allen walks you through every step of understanding sourdough, making your starter and creating your breads. Fifteen sourdough recipes are included, with photos accompanying every recipe.

I had hoped for a gluten free recipe but none are included. I know that gluten free sourdough bread can be delicious because I make it, but I understand that it's outside of the range of this book/author. I still plan to adapt some of his ideas for my own recipes. It's a great primer.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

It took me sometime to work out how to view this book as the download would not open. Once I did it came up in a slightly annoying format so I must admit that I haven't read it all through. However it looks like a useful book which I might well buy in a physical format. I prefer cookery books this way as I can have them on the work top. I am interested to see that this addition describes the whole sour dough process in a systematic way including diagrams.

How to Raise a Loaf by Roly Allen is great for beginner sourdough bakers. Sourdough baking is great because it is just a few ingredients, tastes amazing, has great health benefits, and does not have all the added junk that store bought bread has. The process of creating sourdough lends itself to teaching patience and perseverance.

The book did a great job of breaking it down, so the baker understands what is going on in their bread. I have made a few loaves before getting this book. I had several failures, and by a stroke of luck the last one came out okay. Reading the science in this book, I figured out what I believe I did wrong on each of these so I can do better in the future. The book breaks down the different parts of the bread. Allen explains what parts are super important to get perfect, and what you can focus on improving with each loaf you make. The book also explains how to make a starter and the various ways you can. The main one they recommended is one I had never heard of but is interesting. The steps throughout the book were in easy to follow wording and the pictures were extremely helpful and well photographed. The only photos that were a little difficult to see the differences on where the sourdough starter day by day photos. The only other negative, which is not a huge deal, is I expected more recipes. Although, thinking about it, since people are learning, the recipes included are good ones to start on and master before doing anything more difficult.

Sourdough baking is easy to learn but takes time to master. The long process can be intimidating at first but keep trying. This book is great for beginners and people that are still learning how to make the perfect loaf.

I received an electronic advanced reader copy from Laurence King Publishing Ltd through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Warning: this book will make you salivate - keep a hanky at the ready!

There are a lot of “coffee table” cook books about: glorious images, little content, pretentious attitude. This is NOT one of them.

It’s rather like a one-on-one tutorial with a dishy baker that you fancy. It has a good structured approach, does not talk down to you and takes you by your doughy little hand to guide you through the magical sourdough world. It reassures you when you think you’ve gone wrong and it infects you with the baking enthusiasm of the author.

Whilst, to me, some of the 40 pages of recipes are an acquired taste - I’m looking at YOU, Speckled Beetroot Bread, most just sound eminently scoffable.

Will buy copy for bread-mad friend.

Yum! Yum! How to Raise a Loaf: and Fall in Love with Sourdough is the perfect cookbook for anyone wanting to make delicious sourdough bread. Even if you have never made bread before, but want to learn, this is the book for you. This is a beautiful cookbook with lots of colourful pictures.
How to Raise A Loaf is well organized with a Contents page, Step-by-step photo instructions, Techniques, Tips and Tricks, Troubleshooting, Recipes and Glossary.
Roly Allen gives precise, easy to follow step-by-step directions and accompanying photos to make great-tasting bread, starting with making "basic starter" through to cutting the first slice of mouth-watering freshly baked sourdough loaf.
My advance copy did not have a conversion table for oven temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit, which would have been helpful. I used the Vert app on my phone to make the conversion.

Once I have made the basic sourdough loaf a few times, I want to try some of the other recipes. Oat and Apple Bread, Sun-dried Tomato and Black Olive Sourdough, and Cheesy Poppy Seed Grissini sound delicious. Provençal Fougasse with Green and Black Olives looks yummy. I am definitely looking forward to lightly toasting a slice of Chocolate Sweet and Sourdough Loaf and serving it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. It may become my all-time favourite recipe.
I highly recommend this beautiful Cookbook and plan to buy a copy for myself and one or two extras. This book would make a great gift. 5 stars

**Sincere thanks to the author Roly Allen, Laurence King Publishing Ltd. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which was my pleasure to provide.
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This book is a guide specifically for sourdough. The section on Getting Started takes you through background, including creating a sourdough starter, the different parts of the bread and flour, kneading, folding, and how to make your first loaf. The next section of the book, Getting Creative, expands on what you have learned - things to add to a loaf, decorative crusts, different types of starters and flours, and troubleshooting. The final section includes recipes for loaves and other bread items using sourdough.
All the recipes had full color photos, and there were photos of steps in places where applicable. Though the book is not very long, it is full of great information.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Laurence King Publishers, and Roly Allen for the opportunity to read and review this gorgeous cookbook! If the pictures in this book don't leave you famished for bread, you must not love carbs like I do!

Each recipe includes pictures and step-by-step instructions to make starter and wonderful breads. Plus, the author gives a wonderful introduction into bread making with needed equipment, ingredient information and troubleshooting tips.

If you are wanting to delve into sourdough baking while you are at home now, this is the book for you!

How to Raise a Loaf: and fall in love with sourdough is a tutorial guide and recipe collection by Roly Allen. Due out 26th May 2020 from Laurence King publishing, it's 112 pages and will be available in flexibound format.

Although not isolating at home (I'm a healthcare worker for my day job), I've certainly traveled and eaten out much *much* less (as in not at all) since the lockdowns. This means that I've had a lot more time to devote to reading, writing, knitting, sewing, gardening, and other crafty pursuits. I was happy to receive this eARC because making a concerted effort to learn to make sourdough had been on my to-do list for years.

A very general introduction in plain language includes the basic who, what, why, when, and how to's. The author has a very down to earth and engaging manner of writing that is fun and encouraging. He does emphasize the potential physical and mental benefits of doing something thoroughly and well. Sourdough takes time. The continuity and rhythm of doing something which requires action (even simple action) over time can be a significant source of routine in world where everything feels very unsettled, upside down and backwards. His basic starter was unusual in my experience (comparing his method to the tutorials on youtube) in that it starts by stacking the deck in favour of the microorganisms by introducing both natural yogurt and a source of fructose. The introduction includes a couple of short easy-to-follow technique tutorials as well as a solid subchapter on necessary equipment.

Extras, fancier presentations, alternate starter routines, and other artistic enhancements are covered in the following chapter. The author also includes a good troubleshooting section and commentary on different types of containers for baking as well as tips and tricks for getting the best results.

The recipes are varied and well presented. Ingredients are listed in a bullet style list. Measurements are standard (metric) with American units in parentheses. Step by step cooking instructions are well formatted and easy to follow. The loaves are beautifully photographed (including a number of photo-series tutorials to help with clarity in some steps). There are numerous wildly different loaves here (14 by my rough count). The Provencale fougasse with olives was the first we tried after a couple of successes with the starter loaves. It was chewy and "toothsome" and disappeared whilst it was still warm.

The author has also included a short glossary and resource list for further reading.

All in all a very accessible guide, clearly and well written with good clear photos. I'm impressed and pleased at my success with the techniques presented by the author here.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Baking bread may seem like a daunting activity, especially when it comes to a new ingredient like sourdough.

The book itself is beautiful: it is full of close-up pictures of sourdough bread and the fonts are very stylish.

I really liked that the book includes step-by-step instruction with pictures and used straight-forward non-nonsense vocabulary. I personally find it confusing when recipe books talk about specific tools that I am not familiar with so this was a refreshing approach!

Secondly, this is not just a recipe book, it is a mindfulness book as well. Roly shares a lot of personal wisdom with the reader. I was surprised to see this but at the same time it made a big difference in my life. So now not only do I know how to bake sourdough but I also feel like a new person!

In How To Raise A Loaf, Roly Allen brings a refreshing approach to sourdough baking, from ingredients to techniques, you will find yourself immersed in his words. This is a great accessible book for the whole family!

Disclosure: I’d like to thank Laurence King Publishing Ltd for an advanced copy of How To Raise A Loaf And Fall In Love With Sourdough by Roly Allen. This is my honest review.

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A brilliant guide for the beginner and more experienced Baker. This covers everything you could possibly need to know. It is well presented, well written and great pictures. Step by step instructions, written in plain English and no jargon. Wonderful for everyone to try there hand at, which I encourage as there is nothing like the smell or taste of home baked bread.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Having baked bread occasionally over the years I thought it was about time I got serious and attempted sourdough bread. This book gives some excellent advice and, in my opinion, pitched at the right level for a novice or more experienced baker. There is plenty of guidance on techniques and problems that you may encounter on your baking journey. My sourdough starter is active and it’s time to get baking. The book has some excellent recipes and I look forward to trying some of them in the coming months.